Who would’ve thought that a memoir from the eighteenth century would have caused so much trouble? Eight adventurers sail to Cocos Island on the converted tuna clipper, Sweet Fanny Adams, to dig for the fabulously rich Loot of Lima. They are backed by an amphibious aircraft, a Grumman Albatross, under the command of Van Dusen, a cashiered, ex-U.S. Navy pilot, with ulterior motives.

And the eight adventurers? What a collection! British nutcases, a timber cruiser, a prospector, a cook, the cook’s wife, they are not necessarily what they appear to be either.